Because of Dowling's early closing December 5, there will be no class meeting. Please check below* for essay choices and other aids to help you prepare for the final exam: December 12, 5:30 PM, NAT/Brookhaven
Room A-104
Dowling College
HST 158A: Latin America CRN 95011
Fall, 2002
Brookhaven Center Room A-204 Thursdays, 5:30-8:10 PM
John D. White, instructor jdwhite5@yahoo.com http://johndwhite.net
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- Texts: Modern Latin America, 5th edition by Thomas Skidmore and Peter H. Smith: ISBN 0-19-512995-4 (cloth) or ISBM 0-19-512996-2 (paper), Oxford University Press, 2001; Latin America: Conflict and Creation, a Historical Reader by E. Bradford Burns, ISBN 0-13-526260-7 (paper), Prentice Hall (1993)
*LATIN AMERICA: Conflict and Creation, a Historical Reader
By E. Bradford Burns
ISBN 0-13-526260-7
Prentice Hall
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
Copyright 1993
Instead of a formal research paper, I am asking each of you to select, read, and write a brief response to a single selection from each of any ten of the sections enclosed in brackets following of the readings supplement text.
Page numbers: [1] 2-11, 13-20, 18-24 [2] 36-41, 43-44 [3] 52-59, 63-68 [4] 77-8, 81-92, 90-97 [5] 97-105 [6] 107-113 [7] 116-123, 126-134 [8] 134-146, 149-162 [9] 170-180 [10] 188-206 [11] 208-218 [12] 218-229 [13] 236-246 [14] 254-267 but merely skim the legalese on 256-262 [15] 263-267 + 276-279 [16] 279-287, 288-298 [17] 303-313 [18] 323-329, 329-336
Please do not quote more than a sentence or two from each selection. Paraphrase, praise, criticize, question, even summarize, etc. as a thoughtful, educated person. In your response, please name the author of the selection, cite page numbers selected, and number your responses 1 through 10. Approximately ½ standard page per selection is the appropriate lengthassuming one-inch margins on standard 8.5 x 11 paper, 10 to 12 point type, single-spacing).
- Course Description from Dowling College catalog: "Latin America is studied chronologically and topically in terms of politics, economics, and society. Stress on the consequences of Spanish rule, political unrest, economic growth, and current conditions."
- Grades will be determined as follows: Each of three tests based on specific chapters in the textbook, class lectures, and student reports @ 20% = 60%. Unannounced quizzes over text and supplementary readings = 20%. Written assignments = 10%. Attendance and participation: = 10%.
- Classes begin promptly and students should be mentally and physically ready. Please finish eating and drinking before class. You can miss three classes without penalty. Arriving late or leaving early counts as ½ an absence. If you miss more than five, expect to be dropped from the course. When you miss a class, be sure to check with another student to verify assignments and check the instructors Web site.
- Make a special effort to be present for all tests because there is no make-up provision for a test. In special circumstances an alternative assignment mayat instructors discretionsubstitute for one test, but you will prefer the test. Unannounced quizzes at the beginning or end of a class cannot be made up. Written assignments will be announced a reasonable time before they are due and will be welcome early but not late.
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Continuing questions:
- [1] When/how did the first Latin Americans arrive in the New World?
- [2] What Europeans or others arrived next in the New World?
- [3] Where is Latin America? (Canada, Guyana, Surinam, Virgin Islands?)
- [4] Who is a Latin American? (Quiché-speaking Maya Indians in Guatemala, English-speaking blacks in Belize, French Canadians, Creole-speaking Haitians, non-Spanish-speaking Texans of Mexican descent, 2nd-generation Japanese living in Brazil?)
- [5] Is there a distinctly Latin American culture, and if so what is it?
- [6 What is and what should be the relation between Latin American and United States (EEUU) culture? Is Canadas relation to Latin America noticeably different?
- [7 Is foreign investment in Latin American economies (cheap labor, minimal environmental restriction, etc.) more helpful or harmful?
* ESSAY TOPICS FOR FINAL EXAM: 12/12 (pick
three)
[1] Tell important features of the 1969 Soccer War: participants, causes, results.
[2] Explain the effects of the colonial period on
Caribbean countries generally including some of
the following categories: [a] discoverers/explorers,
[b] Indians and Africans, [c] economic developments
[d] national rivalries [e] religion and European culture
[f] work of Bartolomé de las Casas.
[3] List and explain five key factors and/or developments
in Haiti's unique history such as: [a] language [b] people
[c] religion [d] U. S. dominance [e] the two Duvalier
regimes [f] Tontons Macoutes[g] noirisme
[h] Aristide administration.
[4] Discuss with specific information the short-term and
long-range effects on US-Caribbean relations of
filibusteros such as William Walker.
[5] Drawing on experiences of more than one island
or isthmian nation, tell the story of the role of
one of the following crops [a] sugar [b] bananas,
OR [c] coffee in the Caribbean/Central American
region geographical factors, effects on the economy, social classes, government and
culture, European involvement, etc.
[6] Using specific examples, show the contrasting roles
the Catholic church has played in Central America from colonial times to the present.
[7] Describe the purposes, development,
accomplishments, and problems encountered by the
Central American Common Market (CACM).
[8] In a paragraph for each, identify the
Caribbean/Central American region actions of any
THREE of the following: [a] Ernesto Cardenal
[b] Oscar Romero [c] Theodore Roosevelt
[d] Augusto César Sandino [e] the Dulles brothers
[f] Castillo Armas [g] Miguel Ángel Asturias
[h] Pedro de Alvarado [i] Toussaint L'Ouverture.
[9] Tell the major personalities, real or apparent
motives, effects on Panamá [and the rest of Latin
America] of the 1989 U. S. attack on that country.
[10] Tell the major personalities, real or apparent
motives, effects on Grenada and U. S. reputation in
the hemisphere of the 1983 U. S. invasion of that
country.
[11] List and identify five or more major developments
or factors in the unique history of Puerto Rico.
[12] Outline or list highpoint of the 20th century relations
between the U. S. and the Dominican Republic or "Santo Domingo".
[13] Tell key points about when and how the U. S. came
to occupy the land and build the Panamá Canal and hand
it over to Panamá.
[14] List and identify highlights of the relations between
the U.S. and Nicaragua in the 20th century.
[15] Costa Ricas culture, government, and economy
differ sharply from its neighbors. Describe some of
those differences that cause this little country to serve
as a positive role model for its neighbors.
[16] Analyze and show examples of how the Caribbean/Central American region continue to
reflect their experience as colonies of Spain (religion,
land policies, governmental structures, etc.)
[17] List and identify the major features of U.S. relations with the Caribbean/Central American region since the
1820s (Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, Big
Stick Policy, Dollar Diplomacy, Good Neighbor Policy,
big brother, Colossus of the North, etc.)
[18] List the major milestones or developments in Pan-Americanism, mutual defense in the hemisphere,
U.S. aid (Alliance for Progress, Peace Corps, AID, etc.) challenges to unity from 1889 to the present.
[19] Using specific information from the text or other sources, analyze the relations between the U. S. and
[a] Cuba [b] NAFTA and México [c] MERCOSUR, or
other contacts with Latin America.
[20] Discuss the social developments [from Chapter 11 or other sources] that will affect the next generation: migration to urban areas, low wages and underemployment, housing and health needs, illegal emigration (especially the U. S. and Canada), water and sanitation, education, etc.
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Latin America: Mobilization and Devlopment or Neocolonial Militarism?
1. Industrialization and mass mobilization that began in the 1930s
2. Relapse into economic neocolonialism and military authoritarianism
3. Shift to elected civilian governments with market-oriented economies from 1980s è
Remaining/continuing problems with new twists:
1. Hacienda system and
2. Debt peonage
3. Predation on native populations (including extermination: Brazil, Guatemala)
4. Machismo and attendant
5. Low status of women
6. Extreme separation of richest and poorest classes
7. Massive urbanization with declining standard of living of poorest half of the country (villas miserias of Brazil, Mexico among the worst)
8. Population explosion that is worst in the poorest countriesover 3% in some
9. Actual increase in NUMBERS of illiterates while percentage has dropped slightly
10. Shift from grain exporter to grain importer
11. Brain drain to the US (which has become the 4th largest Spanish-population in the Hemisphereprobably 5th largest in the world)
Some of what has been done about the problems and where the resources will come from:
A. Extract resources from agriculture or
B. Borrow from foreign banks or gain net profits from foreign trade
1. Import substitution (via quotas, tariffs, etc.) should be accompanied by genuine land reform, and paying a manufacturing worker well but rarely has been.
2. Improve agriculture, re-distribute land (only in Mexico--Guatemala's effort subverted by CIA and ambassador in 1954 and Sandinistas in Nicaragua only modestly successful in part because of US-supported Contra movement diverting limited resources to fight overthrow)
3. OR extract capital from agriculture by paying inadequate wages
4. Rapid, if only symbolic, industrialization in on or more products (steel, chemicals, glass, insecticides, etc.) to move toward self-sufficiency
(NOTE Central American Common Market: 1950-1969)
1. SOCIALIST EXPERIMENTS: (other than very brief flirtation with communism by Costa Rica just after WW II)--and US opposition in various forms:
2. Cuba (1959è) Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, CIA vs. Castro
3. Chile (1970-73) overthrow/assassination of Allende
4. Nicaragua (1979-80s) Iran-Contra effort, et al.
Prologue (pp. 1-12): Be sure you can discuss: political links large sections of our country have become Latinized North Americans U. S. stereotypes of Latin America languages of Latin America diverse physical features of the continents society contrasts and classes hemispheric goals of political and economic independence France's ambitions in the hemisphere "First, Latin America is both young and old. throughout its history been both tumultuous and stable has been both independent and dependent, autonomous and subordinate both prosperous and poor Latin America is a beggar atop a mountain of gold." alternating periods of liberty and despotism jumble of racist epithets psychological simplifications geographical platitudes and cultural distortions rapidly increasing U.S. and European penetration modernization theory transition from rural to an urban society income distribution more unequal Dimension of Diversity chart [mulatto, mestizo] antidemocratic policies as products of Catholic/Mediterranean heritage? dependent development single export crop landowning elite the planters dependencia theory benefits of coups è authoritarian governments liberalizing national economies analytical themes of the text (p. 10)
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Schedule
* September 5: Introduction and highlights from chapter 1.
* September 12: Out-of-class assignment on Latin American current events (from clippings and additional research on the World Wide Web or other resources. (This class will not meet because instructor is to be in Guatemala) Complete reading of chapters 1-2.September 19: Oral reports by students and instructor (Guatemala) from
* September 12 assignment. Read chapter 3 for next class.
* September 26: Chapter 3: Argentina: Prosperity, Deadlock, and Change
* October 3: Chapter 4: Chile: Socialism, Repression, and Democracy. LAST HOUR: Test: chapters 1-4
* October 10: Chapter 5: Brazil: Development for Whom?
* October 17: Chapter 6: Peru: Soldiers, Oligarchs, and Indians
* October 24: Chapter 7: Mexico: The Taming of a Revolution
* October 31: Chapter 7, continued: [Mexico]; Begin chapter 8: Cuba: Late Colony, First Socialist State
* November 7: Chapter 8, continued. LAST HOUR: Test on chapters 6-8
* November 14: Chapter 9: The Caribbean: Colonies and mini-states
* November 21: Chapter 10: Central America: Colonialism, Dictatorship, and Revolution
* December 5: Chapter 11: Latin America, the United States, and the World
* December 12: Final Examination on chapters 9-11. 5:30-8:15, NAT/Brookhaven A-104. .
(See the picture of the Chichén Itzá pyramid)
Pity poor Cancun. It's the girl you remember from high school, the one whose parts supposedly came straight out of a bottle, Miss Clairol hair, Coppertone skin and José Cuervo personality. She was always on the prowl for the next party, the next boyfriend, the next big thrill. And did you hear what she did after the big dance? Everybody talked about it for weeks! Let's face it. Cancun has a certain reputation. And, for a few weeks every March and April, she lives up to it. That's when swarms of spring-breakers descend on Senor Frog's, Coco Bongo and similar nightspots around town, and the per capita intake of Jell-0 shots would leave any frat boy peaked. But believe only half of what you've heard on MTV Cancun, like the party-hardy girl from high school, is basically misunderstood. Beneath her glitzy, good-time exterior lurks a subtler sensibility and darker mysteries. Part of the problem lies in her looks. The place is simply drop-dead gorgeous. "Cancun" comes from the Mayan word for "Golden Serpent," because its pale-gold beach writhes like a snake for 20 kilometers alongside the Caribbean. The water is shocking blue, like liquid sapphire, and the sand is as fine and soft as baby powder. Nobody takes such sensuous beauty seriously One look, and you want nothing else but to dig in your toes in the sand, cast your eyes on the water and wrap your fingers around a frozen margarita. Some people find Cancun's sun, sand and sea more than enough to fill their days, and fine restaurants and wild clubs aplenty to occupy their nights. But if you long for something beyond tanning, snorkeling and scuba diving, you can find itwith a little looking.
Start in the basement of the Convention Center, where the city hides its one modest museum. The Museo Arqueologico de Cancun gives you a thumbnail history of the Yucatan Peninsula, with an emphasis on the state of Quintana Roo and features a fascinating collection of Mayan pottery statuary and other relics. Ironically it may be the one place in Cancun that doesn't cater to Americans; the attendants speak little English (a real oddity in this bilingual tourist town), and the translated texts for the self-guided exhibit tour may leave you scratching your head. For instance, the English description of the post-classic Mayan era explains, "The fields were looted by means of stones linseed without mortar, and the government was divided in bossy lands." You also learn that the ancient Mayas practiced "mutilation, dental encasement, scarification and corporeal painting" as fashion statementsmuch like the college kids who frequent Senor Frog's these days. You can find traces of the Mayas at places other than the museum. Walk along the beach on the north-south leg of the Hotel Zone, and you'll notice what appears to be a pile of rubble right next to the Sheraton Cancun. New hotel construction, perhaps? Excavation for another pool? No, a closer look reveals a partially restored Mayan ruin, smack between two ultra-modern hotels. Although its exact purpose remains a mystery, the rough, open-air portico overlooks the turquoise sea to the east. You can almost imagine the Mayan fishermen scanning the horizon from that very spot centuries ago. An even larger complex of ruins lies next to the Hilton, at the southern end of the Hotel Zone, near Kilometer 17. The Ruinas del Rey sit incongruously in the middle of a golf course, overlooking the lagoon rather than the open sea. Several stone platforms and other structures remain from what was once probably a ceremonial site and settlement. All this just whets your appetite for the Mayan main courseChichén ltzá, a huge complex of ruins about two and a half hours west of Cancun. Operators in every hotel offer inexpensive guided tours to the site, which covers almost four square miles and takes most of a day to explore. The site remains shrouded in mystery, even though more than 30 of the 100- plus stone structures have been at least partially restored. No one knows precisely what went on in this ancient town or why the conquistadors found it abandoned. Archaeologists can only guess, based on what they've unearthed: carvings depicting decapitation and evisceration, temples decorated with skulls and evidence of human sacrifices. Only slightly less gruesome than the rites at Chichén ltzá is the bullring back in Cancun, located at the corner of Avenues Bonampak and Sayil in "old town." There, on Wednesday afternoons in winter, performances by folk dancers and Mexican cowboys lead up to the main event, when matadors face off to the death against four bulls. Although just a 5-peso bus ride from anywhere in the Hotel Zone, the bullring represents a bloody tradition light-years away from the glamorous, ultra-modern party town that most tourists see from the beach. For more information, call 800/CO-CANCUN (462-2628) or visit www.gocancum.com
[Thanks to Car & Travel magazine, October 2002, from the Automobile Club of New York, Inc.: www.aaa.com]
| Chichén Itzá in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula |
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| Spectacular Mayan pyramid ruins |
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